One year ago stocks dropped 12% in a single day. What investors have learned since then

March 16, 2020 was the day when Covid got very real for market investors.  It was the week everyone realized that we would be in for a prolonged shutdown.

When the S&P 500 fell 7% shortly after the open, circuit breakers kicked in and halted trading for 15 minutes. It was the third circuit breaker halt in a week, after similar halts on March 9th and 12th.

The Dow industrials dropped 12.9%, the second biggest percentage loss post WWII (after 1987’s 22.6% drop).

The S&P 500 dropped 12%, its third biggest percentage loss.

The Nasdaq dropped 12.3%, its largest…